Java Settlers of Catan

Play a settler on the newly populated island of Catan. Build settlements, roads, and cities by taking commodities from the land around you. Turn a sheep, lumber, rocks and some grain into a settlement, bricks and wood into road, or try to complete other combinations for more advanced buildings and services. Take advantage of trades with other players, or at local seaports to get commodities you might lack. The first player to gain 10 points from a combination of roads, settlements, and special cards wins.

JSettlers is inspired by the board game that you can buy from the good people at Catan GmbH.

Games expire after 90 minutes, use "*ADDTIME*" to extend a game.
If you would like to practice offline or run your own server, see the Downloads section below.

To play, enter a nickname and then either enter a new name for a game, or double click on a game in the list to join it. Be patient when you join a game, it takes a while to load. If you try to join a game, and there is someone in the game with the same nickname as yours, it won't work. Just enter a new nickname and try again.

Screenshots

Downloads and Resources

• Complete JAR (includes client and full server)
• Server-only JAR - requires command-line parameters; for a user-friendly server, download the client and use its GUI to run a server.
• Full download, including server and client JAR files, optional SQL files, etc.
• Full source code
• Developers' Page
• GitHub project site
• Old SourceForge page

The Settlers of Catan is available from Catan GmbH and Mayfair Games. The Settlers of Catan was originally published in German by Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. as Die Siedler von Catan. Original game design by Klaus Teuber. This program is not intended to replace the original board game in any way.

Server updated 2022-07-05: (2.6.10)

• Server:
  • At end of game, also show players their resource trade *STATS* if client is v2.6.00 or newer
• No changes to client.

Updated 2022-06-12: (2.6.00)

• I18N: Added Polish translation (thank you KotCzarny)
• Client:
  • Game window:
    • Moving robber: If hex is desert, don't ask "are you sure" when you have an adjacent settlement/city
    • Less flicker while resizing window
  • More consistent sound quality on Windows 10
• Game *STATS*: Show player's resource totals given/received with ports, bank, other players if client and server are v2.6.00 or newer
• Other changes: see Versions.md

Updated 2021-12-30: (2.5.00)

• Gameplay:
  • Road Building: If player cancels placement or ends turn before placing the first free road or ship, the dev card is returned to their hand
  • When a trade is offered to bots and humans, bots wait longer before responding. Was 3 seconds, is now 8, changeable with server property jsettlers.bot.human.pause (thank you Lee Passey)
  • Recalc Longest Route when building coastal settlement to connect a player's roads to ships (thanks kotc for reporting issue #95)
  • Pirate Islands scenario: Ship placement: Fix client bug where placing a coastal ship next to a road would prevent any further ship building, based on "no branches in route" rule
• I18N:
  • Added French translation (thank you Lee Passey)
• Client:
  • Game window:
    • Added hotkey Ctrl-B/Alt-B/Cmd-B to ask to Special Build in 6-player game
    • Discards: List resources you discarded, not just total amount, in game action textarea
    • Forgotten Tribe scenario: Much less flicker while placing gift ports
  • New Game dialog:
    • If server has increased default VP to win, use that as minimum when picking a scenario
  • If client starts a TCP server, keep it running; previous versions timed out after being idle an hour (thanks kotc for reporting issue #81)
  • Linux/Unix: Use sub-pixel font antialiasing if available (thanks kotc for issue #92)
• Bots/AI:
  • Shorten pause after bot requests a bank trade
• Server:
  • During game reset, don't send chat recap: Chat text is still in clients' game windows
  • If default VP is set on command line or properties, will also be minimum VP for any scenario
  • Other server changes: see Versions.md
• Other changes: see Versions.md

Updated 2020-07-05: (2.4.00)

• Gameplay:
  • Pirate can be placed next to any coastline, even those near edge of board
  • For consistency, calculate Longest Route and Largest Army only at server, not also at client
• Client:
  • Add client preference: Remember face icon when changed
  • Game window: Game stats: If player leaves at end of game, keep showing their statistics
• Network/Message traffic:
  • When client joins a game:
    • Server sends players' current trade offers
  • Bugfix: When client is v1.x, send seat lock state CLEAR_ON_RESET as UNLOCKED not LOCKED so they can take over a "marked" bot seat
• Other changes: see Versions.md

Updated 2020-05-25: (2.3.00)

• Gameplay:
  • New optional house rule: On 6-player board, allow Special Building phase only if game actually has 5 or 6 players
  • Bugfixes at server:
    • Forgotten Tribe scenario: If a ship claimed a Special Victory Point and was later moved, player silently lost that SVP
    • Forgotten Tribe scenario: While Special Building a ship, if a port was picked up and placed, turn order afterwards was incorrectly resumed at next clockwise player
    • Through The Desert scenario: Could not build roads on some edges of desert strip
• Client:
  • Game window:
    • Hotkeys:
      • Roll dice with Ctrl-R/Alt-R/Cmd-R
      • End turn (Done) with Ctrl-D/Alt-D/Cmd-D
      • Accept/ReJect/Counter trade offers when just one is visible, with Ctrl or Alt or Cmd + A/J/C
      • Since chat input field already has a hotkey for Ctrl/Alt/Cmd-A when focused: When cursor is in chat, hit Ctrl/Alt/Cmd-A once to select all text, again to Accept the trade offer
    • Bugfix: If player had SVP, square showing SVP amount overlapped current trade offer, revealed VP cards, name of player's Wonder
  • Bugfix: If started a practice game, then connected to a server game: Practice game trades stopped working; might've joined server game as "Player" or "null"
• Bots/AI:
  • When offering a trade to human players, shorten max wait to 30 seconds (was 100)
• Server Administration:
  • Expanded functions, added more stats
  • Improved admin user-friendliness
  • Admin users can chat and run commands while observing a game
• For developers:
  • Can save/load some games using local files and debug commands
• Other changes: see Versions.md

Updated 2020-02-29: (2.2.00)

• Client:
  • Game window:
    • Remember recently sent chat text; browse history with Up/Down arrow keys in input field (based on Chad McHenry idea)
    • At end of game, reveal VP cards in players' hand panels
    • If user clicks board to dismiss the right-click build menu, don't show "to build pieces, right-click" reminder dialog
• Server:
  • *STATS* command: Send client how long they've been connected and, if at least 1 game won or lost, their win-loss count for this session
  • If client joins a game that's already over, send final scores and revealed VP cards
  • Let debug user also chat and run commands while observing a game
  • SQLite database: For convenience, if JVM properties don't contain org.sqlite.tmpdir but that property is set in jsserver.properties file or command line, copy it into JVM properties
• Other changes: see Versions.md

Updated 2020-01-19: (2.1.00)

• Client:
  • New Game dialog: If "force UI scale" option is changed, use new value for new game's window
  • Game Options dialog: If Enter pressed while in text field, save prefs instead of saying "Game with this name already exists"
  • While joining game, try to prevent game-list window from getting in front of that game's new window
• Server:
  • Bugfix when client sits down, taking over a bot's seat, during first initial-settlement round: Some players' first placement was skipped because "first player" changed during that bot replacement
• Other changes: see Versions.md

Updated 2020-01-02: (2.0.00)

• Large sea board, including ships and Seafarers scenarios
• Game Scenarios (named collections of Game Options with special rules)
• I18N framework in place, with Spanish translation so far
• High-DPI support based on screen resolution, user preference, or running with JVM parameter -Djsettlers.uiScale=2
• Added second set of hex graphics; in new-game options, can choose Classic or the new set (contributed by qubodup)
• Client and server refactoring
• Other changes: see Versions.md

Updated 2018-05-26: (1.2.01)

• Game reset no longer hangs when game had bot(s) and someone locked all bots' seats
• Game expiration:
  • Initial game length increased: Now 2 hours, was 90 minutes
  • Warns 5 or 6 minutes earlier
  • Ensure at least 1 warning before ending game
• Client:
  • Game window bugfix: Join Game hangs on Windows Java 9
  • Sound prompt when client player is offered a trade
  • Game windows: Render board with antialiasing
• Players can end their turn during Free Road placement if dice were rolled before playing the card
• Server game cleanup: If the last human player leaves a game with bots and observers, don't continue that game as bots-only
• Details and other changes: see VERSIONS.txt

Updated 2017-10-05: (1.2.00)

• Simple sound effects for game events: Start of client player's turn, resource stolen by robber, etc
• Game windows have same size as previous game if resized, not small default size
• Re-word trade offers to clarify who would give which resources
• Persistent client preferences for settings like sound effects and game window size
• Optional database Schema Upgrade, adds:
  • Game stats: Winner, duration, options, etc
  • BCrypt password hashing
  • Case-insensitive usernames/nicknames
• Details and other changes: see v1.2.00's VERSIONS.txt

Updated 2016-10-24: (1.1.20)

• Game board graphics updated to be smoother when window resized
• For new players: When game starts, clicking the board reminds you to right-click to build
• Bots no longer leave practice games after 4 hours idle
• For server config, new optional properties file
• Server can set Game Option defaults on command line or properties file
• If using an optional user database, easier password reset
• Server admins can list all currently connected users with command *WHO* *
  or any game's members with *WHO* gamename
• Details and other changes: see v1.1.20's VERSIONS.txt

Updated 2014-11-27: (1.1.19)

• New game option for house rule: Roll no 7s until a city is built
• Trading port/harbor graphics updated
• Reset board during initial placement: Pick randomly-selected robots, instead of keeping same robots
• Check client password when "New game" is clicked, not later after filling out game options
• For servers using an optional user database, new config options about creating or requiring accounts.
• Other changes: see v1.1.19's VERSIONS.txt

Updated 2013-04-02: (1.1.18)

• Reset board: Keep player chat text; Confirm before restarting after end of a practice game
• Chat text field: Word-wrap long lines
• Don't limit the number of simultaneous practice games
• 6-player board: Focus cursor on input field when the chat window expands; scroll chat/game text to bottom when it shrinks
• If saving completed games to db, save if any human players, even if some have left/rejoined
• Bugfix: Client creating a game on a server newer than itself might show a second New Game Options window
• Other changes: see v1.1.18's VERSIONS.txt

Updated 2012-12-12: (1.1.17)

• Road Building: Player may skip (cancel) placing second free road, if they want to use just one road piece
• If jar client can't connect to server, returns to first panel, with buttons to connect or practice
• If try to start server in JSettlers.jar, but port already in use, show message instead of exiting immediately
• If server's debug commands are on, warn at connect
• Get Practice Game options from practice server, not from most recently started game
• If join a server after a practice game, re-enable name and password fields
• Chat text field: If a long line is truncated, keep the rest of it in the textfield
• Debug commands: dev cards: Send card type numbers with help message
• Server DB setup script: Ignore net errors when running script and exiting

Updated 2012-10-27: (1.1.16)

• Bugfix: 1.1.15 can't start practice games
• If jar client loses server connection, returns to first panel, with buttons to connect to a server or practice

Updated 2012-10-21: (1.1.15)

• Bugfix: Occasional hangs creating new game, when old game isn't yet cleared
• Bugfix: Hangs on mac osx 10.7, 10.8 after a few minutes (SnippingTextArea) - thanks olivierdeckers
• Server command line simplified: port number, max conns, db info now optional
• Can save all completed game results in database, with new option:

  	-Djsettlers.db.save.games=Y

• Server db property for jdbc driver jar file: -Djsettlers.db.jar=sqlite-jdbc-3.7.2.jar
• Server db easy setup script options:

  	-Djsettlers.db.url=jdbc:sqlite:jsettlers.sqlite
  	-Djsettlers.db.script.setup=../src/bin/sql/jsettlers-tables.sql

• Server db sqlite driver URLs updated in readme

Earlier Updates: